Massive India blackout leaves 300 million without power

Muslim girls study in the light of candles inside a madrasa, or religious school, during power-cut in Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi, on July 30. Grid failure left more than 300 million people without power in New Delhi and much of northern India for hours on Monday in the worst blackout for more than a decade, highlighting chronic infrastructure woes holding back Asia's third-largest economy.

Altaf Qadri / AP

An Indian passenger sits as others sleep inside the compartment of a stationary train following the power outage that struck in the early hours of Monday, on July 30, at a train station in New Delhi, India. A major power outage has struck northern India, plunging cities into darkness and stranding hundreds of thousands of commuters.

Reuters reports -- A massive grid failure in Delhi and much of northern India left more than 300 million people without electricity on Monday in one of the worst blackouts to hit the country in more than a decade.

The lights in Delhi and seven states went out about 2 a.m and had not been restored by the morning rush-hour, leaving the capital's workers sweltering overnight, then stranded at metro stations in the morning as trains were cancelled.